1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a freezer having a plurality of pull-out drawers located on one side thereof for allowing easy access to items located in the individual drawers while saving energy which would otherwise be lost if the freezer had only one drawer.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Currently available freezers generally have one large door which results in large energy losses when the door is open to search for frozen items in the freezer. Most freezers include a shelf in a compartment therein and shelves are usually provided on the door. Disadvantages associated with such freezers include energy loss when searching for specific items within the freezer, discomfort to a person searching through the freezer compartment for specific items and inconvenience in defrosting such freezers if they are not frost-free since all the items must be unloaded from the freezer compartment in order to defrost or clean the freezer.
Refrigerators having more than one drawer are known in the art. For example, U.S. patents which disclose a refrigerator cabinet housing containing a plurality of drawers include Earle (U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,798,367; 2,312,325; 2,312,326; 2,328,130; and 2,425,232), Ferguson (U.S. Pat. No. 2,893,805), Gould, Jr. (U.S. Pat. No. 2,929,228), Knowles et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 2,404,851), Saunders et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 3,364,695), Bradley (U.S. Pat. No. 3,364,838), Gomolka (U.S. Pat. No. 4,317,607) and Park (U.S. Pat. No. 4,662,186). A problem with each of the refrigerators disclosed in these patents is that while the drawers may be removed for purposes such as finding an item therein, cleaning the drawer, loading or unloading of the drawer, once the drawer has been removed from the refrigerator housing, there is no way to prevent the loss of energy from the refrigerator since the opening through which the drawer is removed is left open.
It is also known in the art to provide refrigeration cabinets with a plurality of hinged doors. For instance, U.S. patents disclosing such an arrangement inlcude Fleming (U.S. Pat. No. 1,241,104), Brisbane (U.S. Pat. No. 2,158,217), De More (U.S. Pat. No. 2,330,339) and Dapprich (U.S. Pat. No. 2,578,049). Of these patents, only Dapprich relates to a freezing type apparatus and in particular, the refrigeration device disclosed therein is removably mounted in an existing refrigerator to extend the freezer space thereof. Thus, each of these references fail to teach or suggest a freezer compartment having a plurality of pull-out drawers slidably received in compartments of the freezer, each of which are sealed by an individual hinged door.
Refrigeration devices which include a housing having hinged doors and one or more pull-out drawers which are slidably received in the refrigeration devices include Widman (U.S. Pat. No. 2,490,494), Costantini et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 3,019,620), Chuboff (U.S. Pat. No. 3,195,970), Ellis (U.S. Pat. No. 3,254,502) and Orfitelli (U.S. Pat. No. 4,580,411). However, none of these patents teach or suggest the novel structure of the freezer according to the present invention.
A quick freezing apparatus having hinged doors and removable trays in each of the compartments covered by the hinged doors is disclosed by Mathews (U.S. Pat. No. 2,382,084). The quick freezing apparatus disclosed by Mathews includes an enclosing casing, the front side of which includes a number of hinged doors for access to each separate compartment and at the sides of the casing are hinged doors for defrosting purposes and the compartments are spaced inwardly of the inner surfaces of the casing such that an air cooling supply passage extends along one sidewall of the casing and a return passage extends along the other sidewall of the casing, openings being provided into and out of each compartment with means being provided to open or close the inlets into each compartment. Although the quick freezing apparatus of Mathews allows selective closing of any compartment from the circulation of cooling air for loading or discharging material therefrom with a minimum loss of the cooling effect or cooling medium, this quick freezing apparatus is complicated in structure and does not effectively utilize the space within the freezing compartment. The device according to the present invention overcomes the disadvantages of the quick freezing apparatus of Mathews.
Another device related to the present invention includes La Vallee (U.S. Pat. No. 2,455,182) wherein a light is disclosed for indicating when a drawer of a refrigerator is in the opened condition. Finally, Guibert (U.S. Pat. No. 4,339,928) discloses a freezing unit wherein the frame thereof is fabricated of stainless steel or other easily cleaned material suitable for food handling.